Saba Commissioner of Agriculture Rolando Wilson is in Curaçao this week to attend the agriculture congress Dutch Caribbean Visioning Process with colleague commissioners and ministers of the other Dutch Caribbean islands and with the participation of the Netherlands.
Commissioner Wilson, on Monday morning, attended the opening of the three-day congress held at the Acoya Curaçao Resort. He is attending the congress at the invitation of Curaçao Minister of Public Health, Nature and Environment Dorothy Pietersz-Janga.
Securing food supplies for the people of the islands through close collaboration within the Dutch Kingdom in agriculture, husbandry, and fisheries is the central theme of the congress. The congress will feature speakers, presentations, sessions on agriculture, husbandry, and fisheries, and a day of field trips to the different projects in Curaçao.
During the congress, parties will secure this collaboration in two agreements: a Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding between Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten, the Netherlands, and the Caribbean Netherlands, and a Memorandum of Understanding between Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, Saba, and St. Eustatius.
Commissioner Wilson said that the congress in Curaçao is held at an opportune time. “With the rising food prices and the increase of cost to transport food to Saba and the other islands, it is crucial that together as a Kingdom, we invest in agriculture, husbandry, and fisheries, securing healthy and affordable food for our people,” he said.
Wilson commended and thanked Curaçao Minister Pietersz-Janga for organizing the congress. Jim Garza of Saba’s hydroponics farm Gezondheid Farms is attending the congress together with Wilson.